1 At that same time some people were there who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 In reply he said to them, "Do you think these Galileans were greater sinners than all the rest of the Galileans because they suffered this?
3 Not at all, I tell you; but if you do not repent, you will all perish in the same way.
4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?
5 Not at all, I tell you; but if you do not repent, you will all perish in the same way."
6 And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none.
7 So he said to the man who tended the vineyard, 'For three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it waste the soil?'
8 But he answered, 'Sir, leave it alone one more year, until I dig around it and spread manure.
9 If it bears fruit, good; if not, after that you can cut it down.'"
10 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,
11 and a woman was there who for eighteen years had had a spirit that kept her ill. She was bent double and could not stand up straight at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, "Woman, you have been released from your illness."
13 He laid his hands on her, and at once she stood up straight and began to glorify God.
14 But the synagogue leader, indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, "There are six days on which one ought to work. Come on those days and be healed, not on the Sabbath day."
15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrite! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to drink?
16 And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has kept tied up for eighteen long years, should she not be untied from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
17 As he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, and the whole crowd was delighted at all the glorious things being done by him.
18 Then he said, "What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall I liken it?
19 It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky made their nests in its branches."
20 And once more he said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour until the whole batch had risen."
22 He was traveling through towns and villages, teaching as he made his way toward Jerusalem.
23 Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" He said to them,
24 "Struggle to get in through the narrow gate. For many, I tell you, will try to get in and will not be able,
25 once the master of the house has got up and locked the door. Then you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us!' But he will answer you, 'I do not know you, where you come from.'
26 Then you will start saying, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
27 And he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know you, where you come from. Get away from me, all you who practice injustice!'
28 There will be weeping there and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, while you yourselves are thrown outside.
29 People will come from east and west and from north and south and take their places at the table in the kingdom of God.
30 And indeed, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last."
31 That same day some Pharisees came to him and said, "Leave and go away from here, because Herod intends to kill you."
32 He said to them, "Go tell that fox, 'Look, I am driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I reach my goal.'
33 Even so, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is unthinkable for a prophet to die anywhere but in Jerusalem.
34 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How many times I longed to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling!
35 Look, your house is being left to you desolate. Truly I say to you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"